Marshal of the aviation Ivan Kozhedub was a Soviet (Ukrainian) military aviator and
a World War II fighter ace. Also Kozhedub
took a part in the Korean War as a
commander of the 324th Fighter Air Division. He is credited with 64 +2 (P-51) individual air victories, most of them
flying the Lavochkin La-5. He is
one of the few pilots to have shot down a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet. He was made a Hero of the
Soviet Union on three occasions.
He was born in the village of Obrazhiivka, a
settlement in the Sumy region, during the
wartime period between the Ukrainian People's Republic and Soviet Ukraine.
After his first military flight on 26 March 1943, he operated on the Voronezh Front and, in
July over the Kursk battlefields. His first kill was a Junkers Ju 87 Stuka shot down over Pokrova on 6 July 1943. By 16 August he had claimed eight air victories. He
was promoted to Mladshii Leitenant (Junior Lieutenant). Then
his unit moved towards Kharkiv. At this time he usually flew escort for Petlyakov Pe-2 twin-engine
bombers. During World War II, he then served as a fighter pilot in several
areas (Steppe Front, 2nd Ukrainian Front, 1st Belorussian Front) and at different ranks, starting from senior airman up to the deputy
commander of the air regiment. He claimed his 61st and 62nd victories – his
final claims – over Berlin on 16 April 1945.
Kozhedub holds the record for the highest number of confirmed air combat
victories of any Soviet or Allied pilot (effectively the Allied "Ace of
Aces") during World War II. He is regarded as the best Soviet flying ace of the
war, and is associated with flying the Lavochkin La-7. He was also reputed to have a natural gift for deflection shooting, i.e. aiming ahead of a moving target at the time of firing so that the
projectile and target will collide.
Kozhedub's World War II record consists of:
·
330 combat missions
·
120 aerial engagements
·
62 enemy aircraft shot down, including one Me 262 jet fighter (possibly Uffz Kurt Lange of
1./KG(J)54.)
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